Unorthodox lifts to add to your routine.

Unorthodox exercises to add to your routine.

Reverse Bicep curls: Grasp a barbell with an overhand grip, with the palms facing towards you.
Curl the bar up towards the clavicle while keeping the elbows still. At the peak of the lift, curl the bar with your wrists by turning the knuckles towards you. Slowly return to starting position. This exercise works the biceps but also brings a greater contribution of the wrist extensors. Gives an awesome forearm pump.

Viral Pulldowns: Something I came up with at the gym while thinking of ways to improve grip strength and endurance. Use the triceps pulldown machine and attach the rope handle. Get your towel (you do use a towel at the gym don't you, you stinky sweaty bastard?) and fold it into half, then half again. Wrap this around the rope handles and grip the outside of the towel. Perform triceps pulldown as normal with one hand. This exercise works the triceps but by wrapping the towel around the rope, you make the handle thicker and harder to grip which forces a greater contribution of the forearm muscles. You also have to grip hard to stop the rope sliding under the towel which forces your forarms to stabilise the grip. Just wait until fatigue kicks in around the last few reps, gives a great burn in the forearms. Good exercise for gi-based grapplers.

Stiff-legged deadlift: Place a barbell on the ground. Perfrom a deadlift with the knees slightly bent (don't lock the knees out) and lift the bar using the lower back, glutes and hamstrings, kind of like doing back extensions but standing up. Keep the head up and don't round the spine, use natural back posture. (natural back posture should be an "S" shaped curvature, not a "C".) It's important to keep the barbell close to the body throughout the lift. The bar should brush up against the knees and things. Bringing the weight further from the body increases the pressure on the lower back. This exercise is actually safe to perform provided you:

- know what you are doing.
- have experience with squats and deadlifts and can use good form on each.
- don't overdo the weight. Start light and build technique first, then gradually adding more weight as your strength increases.
- don't continue to lift when fatigue kicks in and form suffers. Stop on the rep that form begins to falter.
- read this: http://www.exrx.net/Questions/Danger...l#anchor416052

Hammer Isolation Curls: Sit on a bench with legs apart and grasp a dumbell. Place the elbow on the inside of the thigh near the knee. Hold the dumbell vertically, with he palm facing towards you. Perform bicep isolation curls from this position. Using the hammer grip increases the contribution of the forearms as fixators. For an extra killer, after you get to failure, use the other arm to help you lift the dumbell, then let go and try and lower it as slowly as possible. Three words: lactic acid city.

Leverage Bar: I used to use the bars in the Pump room this, but any sort of bar like a broomstick would do. Grab the bar off-center and rotate clock and anticlockwise from a mid-bicep curl position. As you get stronger with this exercise grip lower and lower down the bar. Works the supuinators and pronators.

The street argument is retarded. BJJ is so much overkill for the street that its ridiculous. Unless you're the idiot that picks a fight with the high school wrestling team, barring knife or gun play, the opponent shouldn't make it past double leg + ground and pound - Osiris

In terms of mixing up my workout routine with unorthodox lifts, I'm about to start an 8-week cycle that involves mostly sandag lifting and dragging. I would consider those unorthodox lifts. The ones mentioned above seem more like slight variations on standard bodybuilding exercises.